GM, Ford, Boeing Top the List : Fortune Ranks the Nation’s Exporters

Led by General Motors, Ford and Boeing, the nation’s top exporters had a banner 1987, as a cheaper dollar pushed overseas sales up and in turn helped chip away at the trade deficit, Fortune magazine says.

Exports by Fortune’s 50 top-ranked companies rose 8% to nearly $80 billion last year, while total U.S. exports jumped 11% to $253 billion, the largest one-year increase this decade, the magazine said in its July 18 issue.

And more encouraging, the trend shows no sign of abating. Fortune said exports continued to climb this year, reaching $29 billion in March for the highest monthly showing ever.

Auto parts, electronic components, computers, chemicals and other industrial goods were the hot products last year, accounting for $200 billion in exports, or roughly 80% of all goods moving overseas.

But Fortune noted that even farm equipment, down for three years, made a dramatic turnaround with exports rising 10% to $29 billion.

Experts attribute the favorable performance to the weaker dollar, which has made U.S. goods cheaper for foreign buyers.

GM headed Fortune’s list for the sixth-straight year with 1987 exports totaling $8.73 billion. Ford eased out Boeing for the No. 2 slot.

Boeing slipped after losing more than $1 billion on overseas sales of 747s. Other aerospace companies had similar difficulties, including Lockheed, which dropped 14 places because of fewer deliveries of its C-130 Hercules transport planes and P-3 anti-submarine aircraft, Fortune said.

General Electric, with 1987 exports of $4.83 billion, held the No. 4 spot. GE spokesman George Jamison noted that, despite the exports, the company imported about $2.76 billion in raw materials and parts, putting the company’s “balance of trade” at about $2 billion.

Jamison said he expects more exports and fewer imports this year, due largely to a changing product mix.

Current import figures were not immediately available from GM, but a company spokesman said that, in 1986, imports of vehicles and materials from countries excluding Canada amounted to less than 2% of total sales.

Among new companies to appear on Fortune’s annual list were Cummins Engine, Xerox, Hoechst Celanese and Ethyl, which makes petroleum and specialty chemicals.

FORTUNE’S LIST OF THE TOP 50 EXPORTERS

The following is Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 biggest exporters, their 1987 export sales and the exports as a percent of their total sales in 1987:

1. General Motors, $8.73 billion, 8.6%.

2. Ford Motor, $7.61 billion, 10.6%.

3. Boeing, $6.29 billion, 40.9%.

4. General Electric, $4.83 billion, 12.3%.

5. IBM, $3.99 billion, 7.4%.

6. Du Pont, $3.53 billion, 11.6%.

7. McDonnell Douglas, $3.24 billion, 24.7%.

8. Chrysler, $3.05 billion, 11.6%.

9. Eastman Kodak, $2.26 billion, 17.0%.

10. Caterpillar, $2.19 billion, 26.8%.

11. United Technologies, $2.07 billion, 12.1%.

12. Digital Equipment, $1.92 billion, 20.5%.

13. Philip Morris, $1.70 billion, 7.6%.

14. Hewlett-Packard, $1.60 billion, 19.7%.

15. Allied-Signal, $1.42 billion, 12.2%.

16. Occidental Petroleum, $1.32 billion, 7.7%.

17. Motorola, $1.30 billion, 19.4%.

18. Unisys, $1.20 billion, 12.3%.

19. Weyerhaeuser, $1.159 billion, 16.6%.

20. General Dynamics, $1.157 billion, 12.4%.

21. Exxon, $1.13 billion, 1.5%.

22. Westinghouse, $1.10 billion, 10.3%.

23. Union Carbide, $1.06 billion, 15.4%.

24. Raytheon, $1.05 billion, 13.7%.

25. Archer Daniels Midland, $981.7 million, 17.0%.

26. Dow Chemical, $978 million, 7.3%.

27. Textron, $891 million, 15.7%.

28. Monsanto, $887 million, 11.6%.

29. International Paper, $777 million, 10.0%.

30. ITT, $719 million, 8.4%.

31. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, $673 million, 7.1%.

32. Hoechst Celanese, $672 million, 14.6%.

33. FMC, $612.9 million, 19.5%.

34. Honeywell, $581 million, 8.7%.

35. Intel, $537.7 million, 28.2%.

36. Rockwell International, $503 million, 4.2%.

37. Merck, $492 million, 9.7%.

38. Amoco, $492 million, 2.4%.

39. Dresser Industries, $475.4 million, 15.2%.

40. Prime Computer, $464 million, 48.3%.

41. Lockheed, $456 million, 4.0%.

42. Control Data, $445.6 million, 13.2%.

43. Cummins Engine, $425 million, 15.4%.

44. Phillips Petroleum, $424 million, 4.0%.

45. NCR, $410.8 million, 7.3%.

46. Eli Lilly, $386.3 million, 9.5%.

47. Deere, $385 million, 9.3%.

48. Combustion Engineering, $383.7 million, 11.6%.

49. Ethyl, $367.8 million, 21.4%.

50. Xerox, $358 million, 3.5%.